This blog post was a breath of fresh air and a healthy dose of realism.  I love linux and the culture surrounding it.  Although I am ProLinux, it doesn't mean I am automatically Anti-MsWindows.  Each one has costs and benefits, pros and cons.  

It's healthy to have both Windows, Linux, Mac and other systems.  Each one has strengths over the other.  Think of these OS's as you would tools in your toolbox.  You wouldn't just fill your toolbox with a hammer and nails because some jobs require a drill and screws.

Yes, you can make linux into any tool.  But is there currently a Linux box that plays all the video games Windows can?  No, not really.  Can Linux run MS SQL Server for that custom application your work uses?  No it can't.  

Caitlyn Martin (author of the article) saying:

I also won't evangelize on behalf of Linux. Why not? In business everything comes down to a cost vs. benefits analysis and there are situations in the real world where a change of OS is far too costly to justify any perceived benefits. There are many situations where Windows or commercial, proprietary UNIX really and truly is the best fit.

I completely agree.  It's about having a variety of tools at your disposal to choose the right one for the job.

If you are a Linux fan, no doubt you've heard all about SCO and Unix licensing bullcrap.  This fantastic article sheds more light on the debate and just how pathetic the whole thing really was.  It really is a good read.

"An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally." 

I've been on an Open Letter kick.  It all started with Steve Jobs' Thoughts on Music.   I felt it was incredibly well written, though I don't think it was well recieved.  I know I couldn't agree with some of the items mentioned. 

I like the Open Letter phenomenon becuase it seems to show some desire of wanting to communicate or have a conversation with a wider audience.  It's a spark that starts the fire.  All too often sparks are stiffled when they should be fostered - how else can a community grow and improve?

I thought I'd keep a running is of various Open Letters relating to IT, computing and the internet.

• Steve Jobs' Thoughts on Music
• Mandriva to Steve Ballmer
• Facebooks founder Mark Zuckerburg's Open Letter on Privacy
  
• Steve Jobs to iPhone Customers
• Bill Gates Open Letter to Hobbyists
• Privacy International's Open Letter to Google
• Novell's Open Letter to the Community
• Google's Open Letter on Net Neutrality
  

If you know of any others, feel free to comment.

For you crazed Ubuntu lovers, here is a nice logo you can tote around town and make fun of all those Vista users.  Enjoy.

If you read my previous post, I mentioned a fellow on my Local Linux User Group, Michael Ward.  As I was writing the post, all sorts of memories came flooding back to me.  Michael was the first to help me install Linux on my computer.  I drove over to his place and he installed RedHat for me.  This would have been about 10 years ago so it must have been RedHat version 5 give or take.  He was also the one who taught me how to build computers. 

The first "computer" my family had was a Commodore 64.  I loved that thing - it had the best games.  Our next computer was a 386 and was built with scrap pieces by NAIT students and it had Win3.1.  Somehow my Mom had a connection with someone there and we got it for cheap.  Back then cheap was in the $2000 range if memory serves me correctly. 

The dot matrix printer that we had for that machine was awesome.  It had the paper with the holes on the sides.  What a beast.  I swear that thing worked better than many of today's printers.  

A few years later my Mom purchased a computer from a local shop, Centauri computers in Edmonton.  And a couple years after that is when myself and a friend took the "Build your own computer" course from Michael Ward in the upstairs of that same shop.   I've been building my own computers since then.

Michael has a great website where you can read about the basics of computers and computer related things such as "How to buy a computer", "Multi-booting a computer" and more.

I'm fairly certain there are scores of other computer geeks who can relate to this story.